


Us Worst Gems

by E350tb



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Amethyst Is A Good Big Sis, Everyone Needs A Hug, Family Feels, Garnet-bashing, Gen, Greg Is Best Dad, Hurt/Comfort, I love them but I'm not happy with Garnet in particular, Pearl-bashing, Quartz bros for life, Trauma, vent fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:13:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23192992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E350tb/pseuds/E350tb
Summary: Amethyst gets an alarming phone call from Connie.
Relationships: Amethyst & Steven Universe, Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Comments: 72
Kudos: 362





	Us Worst Gems

**Author's Note:**

> This won't happen in canon because Steven's gotta be sad so we get wurm. I fully understand and accept that. But it's happening in my canon. XD
> 
> I love Amethyst and will defend her to my dying breath.

**Us Worst Gems**

For the first time in a while, Amethyst had some time at home.

If she was being honest, she’d have preferred to have had this time earlier; but Pearl and Garnet had both been insistent. ‘Steven wants space,’ they’d said, for the millionth time since that snow day episode (and even harder since the cactus.) Besides, Little Homeschool was a full-time job. And maybe they were right - maybe he needed them out of his face. Maybe that’s why he said those things to the cactus in the first place.

But something was sitting wrong with her, and the last few days had further built that strange foreboding feeling.

She’d been with Peridot one day, and she’d gone off on some strange spiel about Steven having bad dreams. She’d tried to pass that onto Pearl, but she’d shrugged it off (and since her own experience of dreaming, Amethyst was partly convinced Pearl thought _all_ dreams were bad.)

Then Bismuth had brought up the roller rink date, and the way he’d seemed sad and left out when Connie had hung with her new friends. “The kid thought he’d be getting in the way,” she’d said. “Someone needs to talk to him.”

But she hadn’t been able to - there was always some new thing happening, and she just couldn’t make time.

The day before it all went down, she’d stopped by Lars’ old bakery to pick up their spare cookie dough. As she’d taken it, Blue Lace had spoken up.

“Oh, I made this lovely cake for Steven - he wanted me to write ‘Together Forever’ on it.”

“Huh…”

Now that seemed odd; she ought to talk to him about that. But Pearl had insisted on a stargazing class, and she never made it home.

It was midday now.. She’d just finished another class (she was getting a little sick of them) and was sitting by the warp pad when her phone rang. She checked the screen - ‘Connie.’

She frowned and picked up.

“Yo, Con, long time no see!”

“ _Oh, thank goodness - Garnet didn’t answer and Pearl told me to call back after class, and I need…_ ”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down, what’s going on…”

As she listened, Amethyst’s face began to sink into a deep frown…

* * *

“Garnet? We need to talk, dude.”

Garnet turned, her face impassive. Her meditation class had just ended, the students heading off in all directions, and she had just checked her schedule on her clipboard.

“Amethyst,” she said. “Your ‘Do What You Feel Class’ is running.”

“I told ‘em to take a day off,” replied Amethyst. “Garnet, I just got a weird call from Connie. I think Steven’s-”

“Steven did what he was destined to do,” said Garnet firmly. “He has now learned a life lesson. Everything is fine.”

Amethyst blinked slowly.

“How did you know about the whole proposal junk?” she asked.

“Ruby and Sapphire told him to do it,” replied Garnet simply.

Amethyst’s draw dropped. _She’s gotta be kidding, right? She’s gotta be…_

“I… what?”

“Steven was going to propose to Connie in every timeline,” said Garnet. “It was inevitable.”

Amethyst shook her head.

“Yeah, in like _five years!_ ” she exclaimed. “Garnet, what the heck?! He’s _sixteen_ , of course she was gonna say no!”

Garnet crossed her arms.

“There was always a chance of that,” she replied. “Now he knows what the answer is, so the stress shouldn’t-”

“What?!” Amethyst spluttered. “He’s had his heart ripped out! Connie’s, like, his soulmate, and she just had to say no to him! How the heck do you think he feels?!”

Garnet stepped forward, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Connie can’t complete him,” she said. “He knows that now. We all do. So now he can look forward to the one who will. I-”

“This isn’t a _game_ , Garnet!” snapped Amethyst. “He’s not gonna rip the bandaid off and be like ‘oh well, guess I’ll ask Peedee out.’ He’s _hurt!_ ”

“And he will _heal_ ,” replied Garnet. “It’s better this-”

“You know what?” Amethyst snapped. “Forget you, Garnet! I’m gonna go get Steven - if you ever want to get your square head outta the clouds, you can come find us later.”

She turned and stormed away. She hoped for a retort, or a call for her to wait, but when she looked back, Garnet had turned back to her clipboard.

* * *

She didn’t find Steven at the hospital.

She did find Connie, and Doctor Maheswaran, and a wrecked ward. So that was fun.

Priyanka didn’t look pleased to see her - she realised with a pang of guilt that the doctor probably blamed her as much as Garnet and Pearl for Steven’s situation. But she swallowed it down and sat on the outside bench next to Connie.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Connie exhaled.

“I’m fine.”

“Yeah, you’re not.”

Connie nodded sadly.

“I’m not,” she replied. “He needs space. I know that because I did, after he went to Homeworld. But I guess…”

“It hurts, yeah.” Amethyst put a hand over her shoulder. “It’s not forever, Connie. He’ll be talking to you again before you know it.”

“I just… he had such a visceral reaction to me,” said Connie, her voice shaking slightly.

“Connie.”

Priyanka walked over, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“I need you to understand that it’s not _you_ ,” she said. “Steven is in a bad place right now. He’s reacting harshly to all negative stimuli, not just you.”

“The cactus,” whispered Amethyst.

“The what?” Priyanka’s eyebrow shot right up.

“Noth…” Amethyst trailed off, and shook her head. “He, uh, vented to a cactus, which he brought to life. And it sorta tried to kill us.”

“What did he vent about?” asked Priyanka.

“He thinks everyone’s leaving him,” said Amethyst. “And… and I think he feels like he can’t rely on us for help.”

Priyanka nodded.

“I’ve written my report on Steven’s checkup,” she said. “I didn’t get a chance to send it home with him because…” She motioned to the broken ward. “Amethyst, can I trust you to take it to Greg?”

“I’ll do better than that,” replied Amethyst. “Tell me what I can _do._ ”

* * *

She met Greg in the living room - he was laying on the couch under a blanket, staring up at the ceiling. He looked more tired than she had ever seen him - and she’d seen him after Rose had given up her form.

“Greg?”

Greg looked over - he didn’t seem to have the energy to sit up.

“Oh, hey Amethyst.”

“Is… is he awake?”

Greg raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, you know? I, uh, I guess I thought you’d be busy with Little Homeschool, and I didn’t want to…”

Amethyst sat down on the floor next to him, sighing.

“This is way more important, Greg,” she replied. “Though I kinda get why you thought we’d…”

She ran her hands through her hair.

“Man, we’ve really dropped the ball lately, huh?”

“Amethyst, you haven’t-”

“Don’t sugercoat it,” snapped Amethyst. “We’ve barely been around lately! And then there’s that stuff with Bluebird, where we didn’t even listen to him, and there’s all that trauma stuff Doctor M talked about…”

“You went to the hospital?” quizzed Greg.

“Yup.” Amethyst placed Priyanka’s report on the table. “Connie called me.”

Greg nodded.

“Thanks for bringing that,” he said. “I just… I have to keep a brave face for him, but I don’t know what to do. I just-”

His voice broke.

“I failed him, Amethyst,” he croaked, tears running down his cheeks. “I _failed_ him. I…”

“Greg, no!” Amethyst leapt up, pulling him into a hug. “It was us! We didn’t even know trauma was a _thing!_ We never thought…”

“You’re gems, you didn’t know!” replied Greg. “I did, I should’ve-”

“We could’ve read a _book!_ ” retorted Amethyst. “Or, like, done _anything!_ If we hadn’t been around, none of this would’ve…”

“Don’t say that! He loves you!”

“Yeah? Well, I don’t deserve it, I-”

Greg squeezed her back, rubbing her back. They sat together in the dimly lit room for some time, his heavy breathing the only sound. She felt damp tears on her shoulder.

“I need to do better,” Greg croaked at last, pulling back and wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

“Nah, man,” replied Amethyst. “I do.”

Greg pondered for a moment.

“Maybe we both do?”

Amethyst chuckled humourlessly. “Yeah, I’ll accept that.”

* * *

It was late now; Greg was fast asleep, and Amethyst sat by the door, tapping on her phone.

She had sent both Garnet and Pearl message after message - by the looks of it, Pearl hadn’t even glanced at her phone, and Garnet was simply letting her texts go unanswered. It was driving the little purple gem mad.

She reopened her texts with Garnet and tapped again.

_G-Squad this is serious. Doc M sent stuff bout trauma n depression. We need to help him thro this._

She sighed, swapping over to her messages with Peridot and typed another message.

_Hey pdot, prolly can’t come over 2morow, stEman ain’t doin well_

She was just about to swap out when a reply came - Peridot was an absurdly fast texter.

_Oh no! Does he need my help? I have numerous experimental medical utensils for physical health, and for mental health I have copious drives filled with CPH fluff fanfiction._

Amethyst smiled.

_Thanks dot. I’ll let y no_

She flipped back to Pearl - there was still no sign that she’d seen any messages. Shaking her head, she swapped to Bismuth.

_Yo bis, steebs not doin gr8. Can u let P no?_

She didn’t wait for a reply, as a ping alerted her to another message - this one from Connie.

_Is he ok?_

Amethyst sighed.

_I think so - will let u no when he wakes up. Get some zs con_

She waited as Connie typed her reply.

_Thanks Ame. ly_

Amethyst smiled softly.

_Ly 2 con_

She flipped back over to Pearl’s texts - still nothing. She was about to type an irate message when Bismuth pinged.

_I will, but i’m not with her rn. Let me know how he feels 2morrow, im worried about him._

Amethyst typed a quick reply.

_Will do. Thx._

There was another ping. It was Garnet, and she quickly shifted tabs to see it.

_It is fine. We need to give Steven space._

Amethyst just about snarled as she tossed her phone to the side, running her hands through her hair. She fell onto her back, staring at the strange shapes the dark shadows on the roof made.

“No wonder he hates us,” she muttered darkly.

* * *

The sun was just peeking up over the horizon, and Greg was standing over the oven, cooking Steven some eggs and hashbrowns. Amethyst had helped where she could, resisting the urge to eat the frying pan for it’s delicious greasy taste, while constantly glancing at the warp pad to see if Garnet or Pearl were coming. The longer they failed to show, the more annoyed she felt.

“What if we just left?” she asked.

Greg glanced over to her.

“Huh?”

“Like, we take Steven, we take the van, and we go somewhere else,” said Amethyst. “Like, to Vegas, or Appalachia, or even the Maheswaran’s lawn. Just got him out of here, you know?”

Greg shook his head. “You’re not serious, right?”

“I don’t know,” replied Amethyst. “Maybe it’d be good for him.”

She heard feet on wooden floorboards above, and stepped away from the kitchen counter.

“Should I go up?”

Greg nodded.

Slowly, Amethyst walked towards the stairs, slowly stepping up and peeking around the stairs.

Steven looked exhausted - worse than that, he looked broken. His eyes were sunken, dark bags underlining them, and his face was set into a deeply uncharacteristic frown. There was no glow to his face (perhaps ironically), no life. If Amethyst had a heart, it would have broken.

“Steven?” she called.

Steven glanced down at her.

“Oh,” he said flatly. “Hey Amethyst. You come to pick something-”

He was cut off as Amethyst leapt up the stairs, landing in front of him and pulling him into a tight hug.

“I’m sorry!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been stupid and selfish and I haven’t been there for you, and I didn’t learn anything about this trauma stuff and I should have, and I _hurt_ you and-”

Her voice cracked, and she pulled him closer, tears flowing into his shoulder. Steven hesitated for just a moment - then, gently, he hugged her back, and Amethyst felt the dampness in his own eyes.

“Amethyst…” he whispered. “I… I’m sorry…”

“ _Don’t_.” Amethyst pulled him back, staring him straight in the eye. “You have _nothing_ to be sorry for.”

“I’m just…” He sobbed. “I’m _scared._ ”

“I know, dude, I know,” replied Amethyst. “But we’re gonna get through this, alright? _Together._ You n’ me, we’re a team, okay?”

Steven blinked, fresh tears flowing, and he managed a tiny smile.

“Us worse gems gotta stick together, right?” he said.

Amethyst shot a crooked smile back.

“That’s why we’re the best.”

They fell back into the hug, and the quiet morning atmosphere was broken by deep, heavy sobs.

* * *

It was midday now, and Garnet and Pearl still hadn’t come back. A strange part of Amethyst had stopped caring.

Peridot had come round for an hour or so, as had Bismuth and Lapis. They hadn’t said much to Steven - he wasn’t quite up for a long conversation - but they’d made it clear that they were there for him. Lapis had taken the time to read Priyanka’s notes on trauma; she let out short ‘hmms’ as she did.

“I think I want to talk to someone about this,” she said at last. “Can I borrow your phone?”

Greg let her, and she stepped onto the balcony to call Priyanka. Amethyst didn’t hear much of it, but she saw her pace and nod, and a few times she swore she could see tears.

Steven had enough energy to make himself a tomato sandwich for lunch - he said he found sandwich-making theraputic - and after he was finished, he took out his phone.

“I’m gonna call Connie,” he said.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” replied Amethyst.

Steven smiled.

“I want to.”

Amethyst smiled back.

“Hey, before you do, just wanted to say one thing,” she said.

She leaned in close and put a hand on his shoulder.

“What Garnet did,” she said, “wasn’t cool, okay? And it’s okay to tell her that, even if she doesn’t listen.”

Steven nodded.

“Thanks.”

Amethyst winked.

“I got your back, Steeman,” she said.

Steven smiled, gave her a quick hug, and walked upstairs to call Connie. Amethyst and Greg were once again alone.

“I thought a bit about what you said,” mused Greg. “About getting Steven out of here for a while.”

“Yeah?” Amethyst raised her brow.

“I’m gonna talk to him about it,” continued Greg. “Not right now, but soon.”

“Yeah,” nodded Amethyst. “Get the kid away from us, you know?”

Greg smiled.

“What if he wants you to come?” he asked.

“He won’t,” replied Amethyst.

Greg raised an eyebrow.

“You know,” he said. “When he was four, he told Vidalia you were his big sister. Just something to think about.”

Amethyst blushed and looked at her feet.

“Some big sister I turned out to be,” she sighed.

Greg put an arm over her shoulder.

“He couldn’t have asked for a better one.”

Amethyst felt tears pricking at her eyes, and she lifted her arm to wipe them away - she paused, shook her head, and pulled Greg into a hug.

“We’re gonna get through this,” she said firmly. “Together.”

“Together,” agreed Greg.

And in time, they knew for a fact they would.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if I'll do more with this. I have a few ideas, so we'll see.


End file.
